The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) board will next month review a decision to restrict withdrawals amid widespread criticism. On Tuesday, union representatives flagged the concern at the meeting of the central board of trustees and suggested that the move should be rolled back, said two sources who attended the deliberations.

"The intent was different when the proposal was discussed. But what has been implemented is completely different and against the interests of subscribers," said a source who demanded a reversal.

Sources said with manpower restructuring consuming a bulk of the time, labour miniter Bandaru Dattatreya suggested the issue be discussed threadbare at the next board meeting. "It is an executive decision, which can be easily reversed," said a trustee. Since early February, EPFO barred withdrawal of the employer's contribution to PF accounts till a subscriber turned 58 years. Earlier, the entire corpus could be withdrawn if someone was unemployed for two months.

With the implementation of Unique Account Number, which allowed portability in case of a subscriber switching jobs, EPFO decided to restrict withdrawals so that subscribers had a corpus at the time of retirement which they could use. "Why should EPFO or anyone else decide how and when I withdraw?" argued a trustee, making a case for reversal of the earlier order.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Reversing a five-year-old decision, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s top decision-making body, the Central Board of Trustees, has decided to pay interest on all inoperative EPF accounts from April 1 onwards. Inoperative EPF accounts are those that have not received any contribution from employees or employers for 36 months. The move will benefit 90 million account holders with deposits of over Rs. 27,000 crore, but it will not apply retrospectively.

Millions of organised sector employees will start receiving interest payments on their inoperative Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) savings from April 1 this year. Inoperative EPF accounts are those where there have been no contributions by an employee or their employer for 36 months.

Reversing its five-year-old decision which barred inoperative EPF accounts from earning interest, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the highest decision making body of the EPF organisation, on 29.3.2016 decided to pay interest on all such accounts. The new rule, however, will not apply retrospectively, EPFO officials said.

The decision to stop the payment of interest to such accounts was taken in 2011 in order to dissuade workers from making their accounts inactive and encourage them from merging them with an active one. A move to review earlier decision comes in the backdrop of new EPF rules introduced in February, 2016 that bar employees from withdrawing their entire PF amount till they turn 58.

“Under the new rules, when one can’t withdraw the entire amount even after being jobless for two months why should not the government pay interest on the accumulated money,” DL Sachdeva, the national secretary of All India Trade Union Congress and a member of the CBT, told HT.

On April 1, 2011 an amendment to EPF rules barred interest payments to accounts inoperative for more than 36 months.

“UPA government stopped interest on inoperative accounts. Now we have taken a pro-worker decision. The UPA government, which was claiming to be a pro-worker, stopped the interest on inoperative accounts. Now we have decided to credit interest in inoperative accounts,” labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya said after the CBT meeting

Dear all,Pls find enclosed is the Employer Association Rajasthan where in they have taken stay in the High court of Rajasthan Jaipur bench again the Bonus Amendment where in retrospective effect from 1st Apr 2014 Pls find the copy of the order for your kind persualOrder Copy Rajasthan High Court

Further to this amendment, the employees can withdraw
the
PF
account
from
their
own
total contributionincludinginterestthereonuptodate,buttheemployers’contributioncouldbewithdrawn
onlyaftertheycomplete58years,hesaid.

Saturday, March 19, 2016

The Employee Provident Fund Organization, which manages the EPF money, recently issued a notification amending the EPF Act to restrict the withdrawals from employee provident fund to the extent of only employee contributions and the interest on it until retirement. What this also means is that, the employee will not be able to withdraw the portion of employer contributions and the interest on it until the retirement age of 58 years.

he EPFO or the Government thinks that an employee needs the EPF money only after the retirement and happily ignored the other life stages or situations of an employee.

In this age of insecure private jobs, what will happen to the people who lose their jobs and do not find a new job?

What about the people who will not be able to work anymore due to family or medical reasons or physical incapability?

What about the people who does not want to work anymore or leave the country?

What about the people who wants to quit the job to do something on their own at some point in their career? Don't we want more entrepreneurs and realize the dream of Make In India?

Does the EPFO or the Government wants the people, with only provident fund savings, to starve until retirement age and then withdraw the EPF money?

So, dear fellow EPF members, please sign and share the respective petition and request the EPFO to take back this new rule restricting the EPF withdrawals to only employee contributions and urge not to deprive the employees from access to their own savings when they need it the mos

Friday, March 18, 2016

The Government of India has entered into an Agreement on Social Security Agreement with Australia. Following the principles of reciprocity this, agreement is intended to benefit the employees of both India as well as the Australia. The agreement has come into force w.e.f 01-01-2016

The Agreement provides inter-alia for posting i.e. detachment up to a period of 60 months for employees of both the countries. Accordingly the employees of one country deputed by their employers to the other country on short-term assignment for a predetermined period of up to a period of 60 months need not remit Social Security Contributions in that country. Thus the employers are saved from making double Social Security contributions for the same set of employees thereby enhancing the competitiveness of their products and services.

Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has been identified as the agency of implement the provisions of the agreement in India and has been authorized to issue “Certificate of coverage” to the employees of Indian establishment posted to the Australia.

The employers, who have already deputed/intend to depute their employees to the Australia can avail of this facility. The application form for this purpose is available on the official web site http://www.epfindia.gov.in. The “Certificate of coverage” will be issued by concerned RO/SRO where the application is submitted. They may also contact their jurisdictional Regional Provident Fund Commissioner or the International Workers Unit in the Head Office at 14, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi -110066 for any further details.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

The government may have rolled back its budget proposal to tax employees provident fund (EPF) withdrawals, however, a number of employees, especially in the lower pay bracket, are still shelling out a hefty tax deducted at source (TDS). Eight months before the budget, a new section was quietly inserted in the Finance Act of 2015, to tax PF withdrawals over Rs30,000 where service is less than five years.

According to the new provision, any withdrawal over Rs30,000 by an employee having served for less than five years will be taxable at source. If a permanent account number (PAN) is submitted, then tax is collected at10%. There is no tax if a declaration is filed in form 15G or H, saying that the employee's total income is not taxable. However, if there is no PAN, then tax will be straightaway deducted at 34.608%.

This is where the workers drawing low pay are being hit. Sources say many such workers change jobs within smaller periods. They also do not have PAN cards since their salary is too low to be taxable, and are also in need of PF money to meet immediate needs in case they lose a job.

However, even if their income may be much below the taxable limits, workers have to shell out tax at 34% on PF withdrawal, said a source. The notification issued by Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) in this regard says that no form 15G or H may be accepted if the withdrawal is more than Rs2,50,000. This means withdrawals beyond this limit will lead to a 10% tax at the least.

PF withdrawn for termination of service due to ill health of employee, discontinuation of business or any other reason beyond the employee's control are exempted from the TDS rule. Advances for reasons allowed under PF rules are not taxable too.

Sources say even if the well-off may not have a problem in shelling out 10% as TDS, it is the poor who do not have a PAN at all and are likely to be hit.

Figures related to the withdrawals taxed in the Nagpur office over a month show that nearly half the employees who had to shell out 30% as TDS had PF benefits within Rs50,000. Since June, over 100 withdrawals have come within the tax bracket, with total tax of around Rs 50 lakh collected.

Sources say that the amount may be minuscule, but it is the lower rung employee who is the worst hit. Many employees were left shocked when a sizeable amount was deducted as tax but had no choice, said a source requesting anonymity.

Around 5,000 withdrawals take place in a month in Nagpur, but the average amount taken back during such withdrawals stands at Rs50,000, a source said.

IN A NUTSHELL

Finance Act amended in June to tax PF withdrawals

Withdrawals over Rs30,000 after less than 5 years service come under tax net

Saturday, March 12, 2016

As per the provision of TN Shops
& Establishment Act, we need to declare one day weekly holiday to
establishments / Shops.

Now, The Governor of Tamil Nadu
hereby exempts all the Shops and Establishments from the provision of
sub-section (1) of section 11 of the said Act, and permits all the Shops
and Establishment in Tamil Nadu to keep open on all 365 days of the year
initially for a period of one year. Therefore, next one year, no need
to close the establishment but the employees shall be given weekly
holiday. Of course, certain conditions also stipulated in the GO for
using this exemption.

Tuesday, March 08, 2016

After the backlash against the tax on the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF), the government should get ready for opposition to its proposal allowing EPF members to switch to the New Pension System (NPS). Only this time the government may be unfairly targeted because the switching rules it has framed for EPF and NPS are quite flexible and subscriber-friendly.

The proposal to switch from EPF to NPS was announced in last year's Budget. This year's Budget has extended a one-time tax exemption to such switching. A legislation to amend the Employees' Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act has already been framed and is lying with the Law Ministry.

The amendment allows EPF subscribers to make a one-time switch to the NPS. Within 30 days of applying, the entire balance in his EPF account will be transferred to the NPS. Opting for the NPS would also mean the individual exits from Employees' Deposit LinkedInsurance as well as the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS). The Bill is silent on what this means for the amount mandatorily deducted from the employer's contribution and put into the EPS.

But the best part about the proposal is that once he shifts to NPS, the employee will have a one-time chance to return to the EPF fold. "It's a progressive legislation which offers a lot of flexibility to the subscriber," says Manoj Nagpal, CEO of Outlook Asia Capital.

However, on rejoining the EPF, the subscriber will be treated as a new entrant and will not be eligible for benefits he might have accumulated in his previous tenure in the EPF. Also, after this ghar wapsi, the subscriber will not have the option to go back to the NPS.

The amendment also seeks to ensure that employers don't force a particular scheme down the throats of employees. "No employer shall force any employee to opt for any particular scheme as a condition of employment or service," states the amendment.

However, even though the amendment gives a lot of flexibility, there is a lot of opposition against this move. The government could not convince EPFO board members to agree to the move. "We are totally against the portability move," says Virjesh Upadhyay, all-India general secretary of the Bharat Mazdoor Sangh.

Trade unions are opposed to the NPS because it is a defined contribution scheme, unlike the defined benefit schemes like the EPS and the Family Pension Scheme (FPS).

"These schemes are not comparable," says Upadhyay. Unlike the NPS, where you have to buy annuities for pension, the pension from EPS and FPS are based on the last drawn salary and tenure of contribution.

Though the switching facility is yet to become a reality, financial planners and tax experts say that switching to NPS may not be a good idea. This is because the proposed tax on 60% of the EPF (if not rolled back) will apply only for contributions made from April1, 2016. The existing corpus will remain tax free. On the other hand, 60% of the NPS is still under the EET regime. "Don't shift your existing EPF corpus to NPS till you are sure that the money will also remain tax free in the NPS," says tax expert Balwant Jain.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday announced the rollback of proposed tax on withdrawals from employees' provident fund.

"The purpose to tax EPF withdrawals was to encourage a pensioned society. However, in view of the representations made to the government against the proposed tax, I withdraw it" finance minister Arun Jaitley informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.However, the tax proposal for NPS scheme has been retained.Jaitley in his Budget for 2016-17 had proposed that 60 per cent of the withdrawal on contribution to employee PF made after April 1 this year will be subject to tax. This would apply to superannuation funds and recognised provident funds including EPF.

The proposal has come under attack from parties, unions and other stakeholders. Stepping up pressure on the Centre, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had said he will continue to fight till it rolls back the proposal for levying tax on EPF withdrawals.Following a backlash from employees union and political parties, Jaitley had already signalled willingness to reconsider the proposal.

"There has been some reaction. When the debate comes up in Parliament, I will give the government's response as to what decision we finally take," he had said earlier this week

Central trade unions will observe day-long protest across the country on Thursday against the government's "attack on PF" and "anti-labour anti-labour policies", a union leader said today.

"We observe a protest on March 10 against attack on PF and anti-labour practices being adopted by the government," All India Trade Union Congress General Secretary Gurudas Dasgupta told PTI.

"Government has not been considering our demands. Even they are not talking to us. Therefore, we will "observe a protest. It is primarily a protest against PF tax and other issues related to workers."

Government has not been considering our demands. Even they are not talking to us. Therefore, we will observe a protest. It is primarily a protest against PF tax and other issues related to workers."

RSS-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), which has decided not to participate in the protest, said the other central unions have not discussed the issues circulated to them it for putting up before government and they have already lodged their discontent through a protest on February 24.

BMS Zonal Organisation Secretary Pawan Kumar Singh said, "We are not part to this protest on March 10. We have circulated a discussion paper to all central trade unions but they did not had a word with us."

We told them that government has moved positively on certain issues like increasing Bonus eligibility ceiling. Similarly, let's bring the government on board on other issues. But they did not discuss anything on any issue listed by us. We are not part to this protest."

The government has, however, promised to consider demands for a partial rollback of the proposal.

Earlier, 11 central trade unions in a joint statement said, "All the Central Trade Unions met on January 27, 2016 and resolved to continue their protest action against the anti labour policies of the Central and some State governments."

The trade unions had decided to observe March 10 as All India Protest Day against government's indifference to the 12-point charter of demands and its unwillingness to restart discussions for working out concrete steps for resolution of the issues, they had said in January.

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